Meringues have a reputation of being rather difficult to work with. You have to beat the egg-white and sugar mixture until it’s impossibly stiff with a satin-y sheen. However, when creating these little treats over the weekend, I found them to be rather forgiving, and an easy thing to pop into the oven and forget about for three hours. (Yes, three hours. I’m not kidding in the slightest.)
A note on the sugar – I reduced it substantially from the original recipe, going on the rule that each egg-white requires 1/4C of sugar. Because I refuse to put 2+ cups of sugar in a meringue. That’s insane.
Plus, they don’t spread, so you can pack as many as humanly possible into a baking sheet. Like above.
adapted from this recipe
Ingredients
- 4 large egg-whites
- 1C superfine sugar (you can use granulated, but superfine dissolves better/quicker. to make superfine, just grind granulated with a coffee grinder until it's the consistency of flour.)
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 200°F. Butter and flour two standard baking sheets.
Separate egg-whites and place in medium stainless bowl. Use a hand mixer to beat whites until stiff. They should be stiff enough to hold their shape if swirled with a spoon. Add a small amount of superfine sugar while beating. Beat it in thoroughly. Repeat until all sugar is added. The mixture should be extremely stiff with a satin-y sheen. At this point, you should test to see if the sugar has dissolved. Rub a little bit of the meringue between your fingertips - if it feels grainy, you should beat for another minute or so and then allow the sugar a few minutes to dissolve.
When sugar is dissolved, beat for a few more seconds, then spoon mixture into a piping bag. Using a large star or round tip, pipe it out on the baking sheets. Place in preheated oven for 3 hours. If you don't have a convection oven (if you have one, turn it on while they dry), I'd recommend following the original recipe's advice of putting a wooden spoon handle in your oven door to keep it from closing all the way. When finished, meringues should be completely dry (taste test to make sure the insides are dry as well) and easily removable from the pan. Allow meringues to cool completely, then store at room temperature in an air-tight container.
Notes
A note on the sugar - I reduced it substantially from the original recipe, going on the rule that each egg-white requires 1/4C of sugar. Because I refuse to put 2+ cups of sugar in a meringue. That's insane.
